


The Siege of Paris

by Multiple_Universes



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Gen, Historical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 21:43:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9404342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multiple_Universes/pseuds/Multiple_Universes
Summary: After a strange malfunction in the TARDIS the Fourth Doctor and Romana find themselves at the Battle of Wissembourg where they meet someone they didn’t expect. Now they’re trying to figure out why Irving Braxiatel is getting involved in the Franco-Prussian War.





	

**Author's Note:**

> There are probably historical inaccuracies. I tried my best and I apologize for any mistakes.

A man stood on a hill overlooking a small town. He was in an officer’s uniform that was perfectly clean as if he was wearing it for the first time. He had short dark hair that was starting to turn grey in some places and a carefully trimmed moustache. He was well-built in a way that suggested that he exercised regularly if not for reasons of health, then for reasons of maintaining a good figure. His age was difficult to determine. Most evidence suggested that he was on the line between old and young, but his eyes were far too old, as if he’d seen everything it was possible to see. At that moment they were looking through a telescope at the grounds around the city.

A soldier stood next to him, holding a horse by the reins.

The man lowered the telescope from his face, folded it up and put it away. The soldier next to him wondered how the device could fit in the officer’s pocket.

“Very well,” the man said, “I’ve seen all I wish to see.” He climbed onto his horse and turned it around. “Time to go, André. I expect someone will be looking for me soon.”

If the man had stayed several minutes longer he would have seen something that could have surprised almost anyone and made them doubt their senses. He – on the other hand – wouldn’t have been surprised at all. Only better prepared.

 

***

 

Romana frowned and looked at the next book on the shelf. Unsatisfied with what she saw, she read the title of the one after it. She sighed and went on until she finished with all of the books on the shelf. Then she tried the next shelf down.

But that didn’t please her either. Grabbing a book at random, she turned around and walked out of the TARDIS’s library back to the Console Room.

Romanadvoratrelundar had travelled with the Doctor for a considerable amount of time, but – even so – she still found it difficult at times to adjust to the Doctor’s erratic way of travel. The TARDIS was in need of repairs and the Doctor had neither the patience, nor the skill necessary to carry them out successfully. After the ordeal with the Black Guardian and the randomizer she began to suspect that a newer model was better suited for life like the Doctor’s. As such, they made do.

Now there was a new fault in the TARDIS and this time – while not immediately life-threatening – it was bizarre indeed.

She found the Doctor under the console, tinkering away with the circuits. Half of his body was stuck inside, so that all Romana could see when she came in were his legs.

“Ah!” the Doctor exclaimed, pulled himself out and closed the panels, using his sonic screwdriver to tighten the screws.

“Repairs all complete?” Romana asked, knowing ahead of time what the Doctor would say and what it would really mean. He’d fussed and pushed her out of the Console Room when she’d offered to help. That had made her look for the library and something to read to pass the time while she waited. It was just a shame that instead of reading a book, she had spent her time reading hundreds of titles.

“Easy little fix,” the Doctor grinned. “Just replaced the lightbulb.”

Romana opened her mouth to argue that he didn’t need to climb _under_ the console for that and decided against it. “Which one?”

“This one,” the Doctor pointed. “Never could work out what it was for, but I liked that green colour when it did work.”

The lightbulb changed from green to purple.

“Is it supposed to do that?” Romana asked, leaning forward and studying the controls around it. “I don’t even remember there being a lightbulb here.”

The Doctor shook his head. “You never do pay attention, do you? Here you are – in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from an expert and you don’t even pay attention.”

Romana regarded him coolly and eyed the lightbulb. It _definitely_ wasn’t supposed to be there. She studied the controls around it some more. It looked like the Doctor had tinkered with the top of the console as well as the bottom. “Doctor, did you put this panel in sideways?”

“Nonsense! I just changed the lightbulb. Why would I turn the panel around?”

“Why were you under the console to change a lightbulb?” Romana challenged.

“Well… you know how it is… all those fiddly wires and…” the Doctor trailed off, looking around.

 _Any minute now he’ll change the subject_ , Romana thought.

“What are you reading?” the Doctor pointed at the book in her hand.

Sighing, Romana raised the book. She decided to let the Doctor have his way just for a moment before changing the subject back. “I think there’s a problem with the library. I tried to find something interesting to read, but all I could find were books about battles.”

“You were probably stuck in the battles section,” the Doctor said dismissively. “Nothing to worry about. Happens all the time. I remember getting lost in the biographies section once…”

“There were rows and rows of them,” Romana said, “and nothing else. There were no other sections. I looked.”

“The old girl was probably just rearranging things when you walked in. What did you bring?” the Doctor took the book from Romana’s hands. “The Battle of Wissembourg. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of it.” He turned the book around in his hands absent-mindedly. “Must be on Earth…” Then he grinned at Romana. “Well, if you want to see it, all you have to do is ask.”

“A battle, Doctor? Is that wise?”

“We can just take a quick peek and go back.” He put the book back in Romana’s hands and faced the controls.

Romana was about to point out that the Doctor never succeeded in “just taking a peek”, but then she remembered that he also never succeeded in landing where he wanted to and decided not to argue. She looked down at the book. _Best to read it, just in case_. She flipped through it quickly, absorbing the information on the pages in less than a minute.

When she finished she set it down. “Doctor? I’m not sure this is –”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be there soon enough.”

He clearly wasn’t going to listen so there was nothing to do but finish her preparations. “I’m going to change,” Romana announced and slipped out.

 

The TARDIS materialized on a hill with the usual trumpeting sound announcing its arrival and the Doctor stepped out almost immediately. The door of the TARDIS was facing away from the city down below, so that the sight that greeted the Doctor consisted solely of a forest. He drew in a deep breath and rewarded the trees with the biggest smile he could manage.

“What a nice summer day!” he exclaimed and looked around. “Looks like Earth.”

Romana stepped out after him. “We’re between Prussia and France, assuming you landed us in the right place.”

“Of course I landed in the right place. The old girl wouldn’t let me down. Would you?” He patted the TARDIS with a fond smile. Then he turned around, put his hat on his head and set off down the hill through a recently-trodden path.

“How will we know if we’re in the right time?” Romana asked. “You don’t expect to go into a battlefield and ask someone, do you?” Actually, if the Doctor did that, she wouldn’t be surprised.

The Doctor stopped and held up a finger. “Hmm… a bit quiet for a battle.”

“Maybe they finished fighting?” Romana suggested. “Or haven’t started yet.” The second option wasn’t the one she was hoping for.

The Doctor crouched down in the grass. “A person and a horse passed through here.”

Romana looked down. She was already regretting the long dress she’d changed into. It wasn’t comfortable to walk in it through the long grass, but the TARDIS wardrobe hadn’t given her other options. Could it have adjusted to the local time and place?

No, that was preposterous! If the Type 40 ever had that functionality, the Doctor had probably disabled it by now.

She made a mental note to investigate it later.

“Doctor –” a loud song interrupted her. It was coming from further down the path.

The Doctor rose to his feet. “Sounds like a party!”

“Could be the victory celebrations…” Romana mumbled not believing the words herself. This was definitely a bad idea, which meant that –

The Doctor set off in the direction of the voices and Romana followed.

Five minutes later a soldier stepped out of the bushes with a gun in his hand and immediately they were surrounded by four more.

The Doctor raised his arms and Romana copied his actions. Not again.

“What are you doing here?” the first soldier demanded.

“So terribly sorry,” the Doctor said. “We didn’t know this forest was yours. We were just taking a walk.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m the Doctor. This is Romana.”

Romana smiled at the sound of her name. She found that usually it made others less hostile when she did that.

The soldiers, who’d been distracted by the Doctor’s strange appearance – big curls, large teeth, giant eyes and an even bigger scarf – noticed Romana for the first time after those words.

“Women aren’t allowed here!” one of the soldiers shouted.

Romana gave him a cool look. “And neither are rules of basic hygiene, it seems.”

“Silence!” the soldier shouted and Romana flinched.

Shouting soldiers pointing guns at them. How typical! The TARDIS only landed them in the right spot because of this, didn’t it?

“What do we do with them?” one of the soldiers asked the one who had done all of the talking up until that point. He seemed to be the one in charge.

“Take them to the lieutenant. He can deal with them.”

One of the soldiers poked Romana in the back with his gun. “Move!”

The Doctor tried to make jokes that none of the soldiers appreciated and Romana thought hard as they were led to the lieutenant’s tent.

They were surrounded by soldiers and their number only increased as they neared their destination. A ruse and quick escape were obviously out of the question.

The soldiers stopped at the tent, making their prisoners stop with them. The soldier who seemed to be in charge slipped into the tent while the others waited.

Suddenly Romana remembered something. “Doctor!” she said quietly. “Where is K-9?”

The Doctor gave her a guilty look. “In the TARDIS.”

“What if he comes out?”

“Ah… well…” the Doctor let out a puff of air, “…he won’t.”

“Why not?”

“I… uh… started to repair him… and didn’t finish.”

Romana sighed. Typical. She added it to her mental list of things to look into. At this rate it would be a long list before they were even locked away, as Romana estimated they would be in the near future.

“Come in,” the soldier ordered, opening the flap of the tent for them.

The Doctor strode in, Romana following just behind him.

The tent was big enough to fit a table and several chairs. A man sat at the head of the table, studying the maps spread out in front of him. He raised his eyes and a look of surprise appeared on his face. He rose to his feet.

“My dear Doctor!”

The Doctor froze on the spot. “Braxiatel,” he said and the smile was gone from his face.

“I never dreamed – never imagined,” Braxiatel began, getting excited, “that you would join me here, in a place like this. And I imagine that, like always, you’re travelling with –”

Romana stepped out from behind the Doctor. “Hello.”

Braxiatel’s face took on a solemn, respectful expression and he bowed. “My lady Romana.” He’d done it without thinking and regretted it right away.

Romana looked at Braxiatel in surprise. “Just Romana.”

“Of course.” Braxiatel took her hand and raised it to his lips. “I’m Irving Braxiatel.”

“Have we met before?”

“If we haven’t, then I am glad that we’ve had a chance to rectify that situation.”

Romana looked at the Doctor, curious to see his reaction. The Doctor’s face was dark. It looked like he was in one of his brooding moods. Romana dismissed it as jealousy.

“And what brings the two of you here?” Braxiatel asked, stepping back and offering Romana a chair.

Romana sat down. “The Doctor and I were looking for…” she hesitated for a moment and went on, “Wissembourg.”

“And you practically found it! We’re just outside, preparing the defences and so on,” Braxiatel took a seat next to Romana.

He turned away for a moment. “What are you standing there for?” he asked the soldiers. “Lady Romana is my guest and, as my guest, is entitled to our hospitality.” Seeing the confusion on their faces, he sighed. “Must I do everything myself? Bring us some food and wine.”

The men saluted and rushed out.

The Doctor took the seat on the other side of Romana without a word.

Romana threw him a quick look. _Definitely sulking. Why?_ “How long have you been here?”

“Oh, a year or two,” Braxiatel said dismissively. “I didn’t mean to stay very long, you see, but the place has a certain… charm.”

“Not the battlefield, I imagine.”

“Of course not! But the cities! You must let me take you. The sights are beyond imaging!”

Romana smiled. “I’ve only been to Earth a couple of times.”

“Ah! But what have you seen?” Braxiatel spread his arms out as if he meant to take in the whole planet with this simple gesture. “The beauty, the art, the culture, the people!”

The soldiers returned with dishes, cutlery and food. One of them cleared the maps from the table, another laid out a clean white tablecloth and a third placed dishes and food in front of the people at the table.

Braxiatel took a bottle of wine and poured some into Romana’s glass.

“You seem to live in comfort, despite the war,” Romana noted.

“Always ready to receive illustrious guests,” Braxiatel told her and raised his glass.

They drank and continued talking.

After several minutes Romana remembered about the Doctor. He sat with his arms crossed and didn’t eat anything.

“Doctor, are you alright?” Romana asked.

“Fine. Just fine.”

“Why don’t you eat?”

“I’m not hungry.”

Braxiatel smiled. “Oh, don’t worry about him, my _dear_ Romana. I’m sure he can look after himself.”

Romana shook her head. “I’m not.”

“That would explain his constant need for companions.”

The Doctor shifted in his seat and lowered his hat over his face. His eyes shone like two lights from under it. He kept them fixed on Braxiatel.

The conversation continued as if there hadn’t been any interruptions. Braxiatel went into a long discussion of art that Romana listened to politely and when she mentioned the Braxiatel Collection he broke into a laugh and claimed she’d embarrassed and flattered him and so on.

Only the Doctor noticed the dark cloud pass briefly over Braxiatel’s face. He fidgeted with his scarf, fiddled with the contents of his pockets and even tossed his yo-yo under the table a couple of times, all without taking his eyes off Braxiatel’s face.

Then one of the soldiers walked up to Braxiatel, saluted and announced that a general wanted to see him. Braxiatel excused himself and left.

Romana sat quietly and waited for the Doctor to say something. When it became obvious that the Doctor wasn’t planning on breaking the silence she spoke.

“Is something wrong?”

“Why would something be wrong?”

“You barely said a word since we met Braxiatel. Why?”

The Doctor spun his yo-yo. “What do you know about Braxiatel?”

“Irving Braxiatel founded the Braxiatel Collection on an asteroid. It’s the biggest collection of artworks. There is also a university where academics from around the universe gather to lecture students and study the artworks. That seems harmless enough.”

“You left out the fact that he is from Gallifrey,” the Doctor said quietly.

“I know that.”

“And what can he be doing here?”

“We’re here,” Romana pointed out.

“Yes, but we like to explore the universe, see new things, meet new people, save some planets.”

“Battle monsters,” Romana added.

The Doctor shifted impatiently. “Yes, well. Exactly.” He put his yo-yo away and pulled something from one of his pockets and then put it into another one. “Isn’t it a bit odd that the owner of the Braxiatel Collection is on Earth fighting in a war?”

“Why don’t you ask him why he’s here?” Romana suggested.

The Doctor gave her a sideways look. “Last time I saw him on Earth he was organizing a peace conference that got out of hand and nearly killed thousands.”

“Do you think someone sent him here? Our people?”

“No one sends Irving Braxiatel anywhere,” the Doctor said ominously. “Top of the class, cleverest around,” he muttered sarcastically.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you are jealous.”

“Jealous? Me?” the Doctor jumped up in his seat. “I wasn’t in the same class as him! I didn’t compete with him or anything!”

“Or anything… How do you know Irving Braxiatel?”

The Doctor flopped back down into his seat. He frowned and then said after a long pause, “He is my brother.”

“That makes perfect sense, then. You’re jealous. Your brother is famous and he’s well-accomplished. Quite an ordinary reaction, really.” She waited for the Doctor to get defensive or to start discrediting Braxiatel, but he continued to sulk. Romana went on. “I can’t help feeling like he knows me really well. Each time he addresses me, he sounds like he’s giving me some kind of title.”

“We could be meeting him out of order,” the Doctor said. “If he met our future selves first, he would know more about us than we do about him. Then again, that would mean that when we see him next we will know more about him than he does about us. His first meeting would be our last meeting and vice versa. It’s always a risk with time travelers.”

 “He must not tell us anything. He could damage the timelines, if he reveals the future.”

The Doctor crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s older than when I last saw him. Much older.”

Romana considered this. “Could he be here from our people after all?”

“What can our people want with a battle in the 18th –”

“19th,” Romana corrected.

“Yes, 19th century?” the Doctor leaned back in his seat.

“This is the first battle of the Franco-Prussian War,” Romana told him, remembering what she’d read. “The war goes on for several months and ends with France’s loss to Prussia. France becomes a Republic and no longer an Empire.” She paused, seeing the Doctor close his eyes and went on. “This war was one of the causes of World War I, but I’m not sure I understand why. Territory?”

“Among other things,” the Doctor mumbled. Then he opened his eyes and sat up. “That could be it! If this war influences World War I, which – in turn – influences World War II…” He paused uncertainly.

“But everything in history is interconnected,” Romana said. “Events follow after each other.”

The Doctor got up and paced the tent. Romana watched him go back and forth. There wasn’t much room, so he could only make a few steps each way. Both of them considered what they knew about Time. The Doctor stopped, raised a finger and then jumped back into his seat.

There were footsteps, followed by Braxiatel entering the tent.

“So sorry to keep you waiting –”

“No problem at all!” the Doctor jumped up and shook Braxiatel’s hand in an exaggerated gesture. “So happy to see you! So glad to know you’re doing well! We’ll be sure to drop by the Collection sometime! Or we can all go now?”

Braxiatel frowned. “I’m afraid I can’t go right this moment…”

“Oh! That’s alright! Perfectly understandable! You have a war to fight and everything!” The Doctor continued to shake Braxiatel’s hand.

Braxiatel withdrew his hand carefully. “Are you alright, Doctor?”

“Perfectly fine! Thank you for asking!” The Doctor stepped towards the exit and then stopped, as if remembering something. “Actually, since we met like this and we rarely ever do, maybe we could stay longer. You know catch up on old times and all that.”

“Doctor, really, I’m not sure you want to stay in a battlefield.”

“Jelly baby?” the Doctor offered a bag of sweets.

“No, thank you. I just ate.”

“Oh, yes of course!” The Doctor picked out an orange one and ate it.

Braxiatel stared at him. “Be honest, Doctor,” he said slowly, almost hypnotically, “what do you hope to achieve with this?”

“With what?”

“All this,” Braxiatel gestured with his arm at the Doctor.

“An orange jelly baby?” the Doctor volunteered. “…No, maybe a yellow one.” And he went looking for it in his bag. “Hmmm… doesn’t seem to be one.”

Braxiatel gave Romana an exasperated look. She smiled back.

“I think we should stay and help Braxiatel,” Romana said. “If you’re stranded we can help you leave.” _Although where you will end up is another matter_ , she added mentally.

The look on Braxiatel’s face could almost be described as panicky, but it disappeared very quickly. “Oh, I can’t possibly leave before the war starts. What will the men think?”

The Doctor sat down. “Then we’ll stay.”

“And fight?” Braxiatel asked.

“And watch.” The Doctor kept his eyes fixed on Braxiatel as he said those words, but Braxiatel’s expression didn’t change. The three Time Lords knew exactly what the word “watch” meant in these circumstances.

“In that case, welcome to 1870!”

 

***

 

Thanks to Braxiatel’s influence (although he claimed that it was due more to Romana’s charm) the Doctor and Romana were allowed to stay with the army. Neither the Doctor nor Romana heard what Braxiatel said to his general to get his permission.

They were assigned shared living quarters (which were no more than spaces in a tent) with Braxiatel and the instruction seemed to be that they were to stay together, possibly to let one of them keep an eye on the others.

Romana, tired of her impractical dress, managed to get a uniform that fit her and “looked quite fetching”, according to Braxiatel, while the Doctor stubbornly refused to part with his clothes. Two hours of arguments later the Doctor changed into a uniform, keeping his scarf and hat. The soldiers all teased him about the scarf in the middle of the summer, but he only grinned and went on about Nostradamus.

The soldiers treated him as their private entertainment. No one took the Doctor seriously as if he was an uncle who wasn’t quite right in the head or a clown with an odd sense of humour.

Romana, on the other hand, commanded complete respect (especially after the second day) and there was a long-running bet that either Romana was Braxiatel’s relative or fiancée. There had been a brief bet about the Doctor, but it was resolved quickly enough.

On the second day after their arrival Romana found Braxiatel and the Doctor sitting next to each other in the shade of a tree. The day was hot and the soldiers who weren’t posted to watch for the enemy or sent away in search of provisions sat around, half sleeping.

“Can you give me a gun to train with, Braxiatel?” Romana asked.

Braxiatel smiled, rose to his feet and wordlessly handed her his rifle. Romana and the Doctor had both noticed that Braxiatel obeyed Romana without question, but neither of them ever brought it up in a conversation.

Several soldiers gathered around to watch.

“This should be good,” one of them muttered.

Romana turned the rifle over, studying it carefully, then she raised it to her shoulder and aimed at the dead branch of a tree. She fired and the bullet missed its intended target by several feet.

“Not as easy as it looks, is it?” someone said.

Braxiatel gave the Doctor a look. “This should be interesting.”

The Doctor frowned. He never approved of guns and he didn’t approve of this target practice.

Romana asked someone to help her reload the rifle and lifted it again.

This time the bullet hit the branch at the weakest point, breaking it into pieces.

Whistles and applause followed this.

Romana fired three more shots to make certain that she had complete control of the rifle. Once she was satisfied she returned the rifle to Braxiatel.

“Quite easy when you account for gravity and air resistance.”

Braxiatel gave her a knowing look and then gave the same to the Doctor. “Would you like to try, Doctor?”

“No, thank you. You know I don’t approve of guns.”

“How would you have us fight?” Braxiatel asked. He was aware of the tension that followed the Doctor’s words as well as the looks some of the men gave his naïve brother. “With pillows?”

The soldiers broke out into laughter. Some of them slapped the Doctor on the back and called him brilliant. He grinned foolishly all around at them.

But both Romana and Braxiatel could see that he was furious.

 

***

 

“We should leave,” the Doctor said urgently to Romana. They were taking an evening stroll around the camp, supposedly to check the watch posts on Braxiatel’s orders

“And never find out what your brother is doing here?” Romana asked.

The Doctor stopped and let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, I admit, you’ve got me there, but it could be just our imaginations. It’s possible that he just decided to follow my example. My inspiring example, I should say!”

Romana gave the Doctor a look. In the week they’d spent with the soldiers she’d seen enough of Braxiatel to understand the difference between him and his brother. The Doctor led a chaotic life, gallivanting through the universe with no purpose except to see new things, or help someone, or to just have fun.

Braxiatel, on the other hand, acted as if everything he did was a well-calculated move in a complicated chess game that no one knew he was playing with them. He managed to get his hands on good food and wine when supplies were hard to come by. He even contrived to eat it all out of silver plates with silver cutlery.

There was only one explanation Romana could think of for this and she wondered where Braxiatel’s TARDIS was. She didn’t even consider the possibility that Braxiatel had travelled in anything else.

The Doctor walked into a bush and spent five minutes pulling himself and his scarf out.

There was only one thing for it. She had to look for it herself. It was unlikely that seeing Braxiatel’s TARDIS would answer any of their questions, but it could be a good starting point.

 

***

 

The Doctor woke up from the sound of shouting and jumped to his feet. Romana’s place was empty and he wondered how long she’d been awake. He didn’t listen to the shouting, dismissing it as the usual military nonsense and pompousness.

He emerged from his tent with an exaggerated yawn and grinned at the first soldier he saw.

“André! Good morning! Any chance of a breakfast? I remember once saying to –”

“Never mind your stories, Doctor!” Braxiatel interrupted, rushing to him. “Where is Romana?”

“No idea. She isn’t in our tent.”

“I know that. I just spent an hour looking for her in the camp.”

“She’s probably out on a stroll,” the Doctor shrugged.

“Doctor! This is serious! We’re in the middle of a war! The Prussians can attack any minute and Romana is gone!”

“Maybe she returned to the TARDIS.”

Braxiatel sighed. “I have patrols around it. No one saw or heard anything.”

“We can ask around to see if anyone saw her,” the Doctor said calmly, but he was starting to feel Braxiatel’s anxiety. How was it that panic was so infectious?

“We don’t have time! The men said –”

The rest of the sentence was drowned out by screams and suddenly there were soldiers all around them.

“Did you say Prussians could attack any minute –” the Doctor began.

“Stay close to me!” Braxiatel raised his rifle and fired. “Men! To me! We’re under attack! Defend your positions!”

The Doctor ducked behind Braxiatel as the other fired shot after shot.

“Fight, Doctor! Find a weapon and fight!” Braxiatel shouted.

“I’d really rather not, if it’s all the same to you.”

“It’s not! I can’t defend you!”

Several French soldiers ran forward. They attacked with a great deal of energy, as if taking the sudden appearance of the enemy as a personal insult. But there were too many soldiers attacking. The French were overwhelmed on all sides.

“Retreat!” someone shouted. “Fall back to the city!”

The Doctor grabbed Braxiatel by the arm and they ran, ducking and weaving past the soldiers, trees and flying bullets.

Wissembourg loomed ahead, surrounded by walls that no longer seemed impenetrable.

Braxiatel and the Doctor were the first ones to make it to the city. Braxiatel shouted orders to the soldiers, forgetting about ranks and taking command of the situation in the confusion.

The next group of soldiers that came brought bad news.

“They killed the General! They killed Douay!” someone gasped out while trying to catch their breath.

“There’s no time to mourn him now,” Braxiatel said. “We must –”

“Yes, thank you, _lieutenant_. I can take over from here.” The voice of command made Braxiatel turn and salute.

“Marshall.”

“Take up positions and prepare to fire on my command!” the Marshall shouted.

Braxiatel stepped aside and stood next to the Doctor out of the way of the other soldiers as they found places to stand around the perimeter of the town and load their weapons.

Despite all of the noise caused by many people moving around and preparing for an attack the soldiers were quiet. Their spirits were broken by that one death.

And then the Prussian artillery fired and cannonballs rained down on the city wall.

The Doctor grabbed Braxiatel and pulled him further into the city.

“I need to fight!” Braxiatel protested. “You might not want to, but I will!”

“Braxiatel, listen. Maybe Romana is here somewhere. We need to find her.”

“You go look. I’ll stay here.” He saw the Doctor’s expression and sighed. “Alright, point taken. We’ll both look.”

As they slipped away unseen by any of the soldiers the Doctor missed the smile on Braxiatel’s face.

They searched the city, desperate for any clues. The citizens were all confused and frightened. Some were searching for food. Some had gone to help fight the attackers, while others hid in their homes and barricaded their doors. Of Romana there was no sign.

The canons kept firing sporadically and more and more of the wall was turned to rubble. A couple of the buildings near the walls were also destroyed.

The Doctor noticed a big gap in the city wall in front of them that offered a way out. He ran ahead before he noticed that Braxiatel had stopped.

“You lost her!” Braxiatel exclaimed. “Do you know what you’ve done? We’re stuck on this stupid level 4 planet, in a war that has nothing to do with us that will turn bad very soon, cut off from our only way of getting out and you lost the President of Gallifrey!”

For several minutes neither of them breathed. Canons continued to fire. Soldiers screamed. Children wept. People shouted something.

“Did I ever tell you about the time when Caligula and I –”

“Doctor, please, not now.”

The Doctor sighed. “Romana is a clever girl. She can take care of herself,” he said calmly.

“This is war, Doctor,” Braxiatel replied in a tone of voice that was much more subdued, “not a puzzle you can solve with your brains.”

“I know. Jelly baby?” the Doctor offered his bag.

“Where did you – oh, never mind. Do you have any green ones?”

“I think so.” The Doctor searched his bag. “There!” He pulled one out and handed it to Braxiatel. “What will we do now?”

Braxiatel, who managed to eat a jelly baby with a grace a member of the royal family would have been proud of, considered his words before answering. “Wissembourg will be taken. Then the war will move further into France. There will be several battles and a siege, but it will all end in Paris.”

“Then that’s where we go.”

“Easier said than done in these conditions.”

“Are you giving up already, Braxiatel?”

“Of course not, Doctor.”

 

***

 

They spent the day moving in what the Doctor judged to be Paris’ general direction. It took some careful maneuvering to slip out of the city and past the soldiers that were closing in.

When night fell they were deep in a forest.

The Doctor sat down next to a tree. “I suggest we take a short rest and keep going.”

“Agreed.” Braxiatel collapsed next to him. He tried to hide how tired he was, but the Doctor was watching him closely this time.

“You know this reminds me of a camping trip with –”

“Doctor, if you’re planning to name drop again…” Braxiatel warned in a fed up tone of voice.

“— the Brigadier and Sarah. Well, we also had a bunch of soldiers from UNIT with us. We weren’t really camping, to be honest. There was an animal that came out late at night and kidnapped little children and we were sent to investigate. We hid and waited for it to appear. Turned out it was just stealing children to feed and look after them, because its maternal instinct extended to humans. I never did find out what it was called or where it was originally from, because one of the soldiers got overenthusiastic and shot it.” There was a sad smile on the Doctor’s face. “And it will all happen in about 100 years or so, several hundred miles from here.”

“Doctor…” Braxiatel began and stopped.

“Yes?”

“Do you think you could keep your voice down?”

The Doctor grinned. “Not a problem,” he said in a theatrical whisper.

Braxiatel leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. “We have five hours before the sun rises and it will be light again.”

The Doctor searched his pockets and pulled out a yo-yo which he tossed into the air in front of him.

It was quiet, apart from the many noises made by various animals that live in a forest and come out to hunt for food at night.

The Doctor looked at Braxiatel. His brother’s eyes were still closed and his chest was rising and falling steadily.

“You’re getting too old for this,” the Doctor whispered really quietly.

Braxiatel opened one eye. “Maybe I am, Theta.” He closed his eye again.

The Doctor shifted a few inches closer to Braxiatel and continued to play with his yo-yo.

Twenty minutes later Braxiatel opened his eyes and rose to his feet. “Time to go.”

 

***

 

They travelled onwards, slipping through forests at night and avoiding all roads. They hid whenever they heard soldiers coming their way. Twice they just barely avoided being captured.

The Doctor’s supply of jelly babies ran out on the third day and they had to look for something edible in the forest. They found fruit trees and devised ways of carrying more fruit with them.

Two weeks after Wissembourg they ran into the French army and ended up with no choice but to join them in their retreat.

“Very clever, Doctor,” Braxiatel mumbled. “I told you to keep your voice down.”

“This is why wearing uniforms was a bad idea,” the Doctor grumbled.

The soldiers spent all night and the early hours of the morning digging trenches. Braxiatel and the Doctor were forced to join this task. They worked side by side, not exchanging a single word. Occasionally someone would pass, shouting more orders and saying something about the position of the artillery that the Time Lords didn’t hear.

And then the sound of gunfire broke the sound of people moving huge quantities of dirt.

Braxiatel stood with a rifle in his hands, ready to fire as soon as the enemy appeared. The Doctor continued to dig as if nothing happened.

“They’re coming!” a soldier shouted.

“You there! Stop digging! Take your position!”

The Doctor pretended not to hear.

“I can see them,” Braxiatel said quietly and fired.

The Doctor sat down on the ground. His uniform was muddy as were his hands. He wiped one dirty hand over his face. “We can leave now,” he said quietly, “while they’re distracted.”

“Not yet.”

When he ran out of bullets, Braxiatel tossed the rifle aside and picked up the one that had been assigned to the Doctor. “I’m ready.”

They slipped away unseen: so engrossed was everyone in the battle. They walked through the trenches, passing soldiers and telling anyone who saw them that they had an urgent message for the General.

Their luck lasted three hours. Then it ran out.

“Yeah, right. Show me this message,” a captain demanded.

“It’s verbal,” the Doctor said, “and only for the General’s ears. It’s urgent.”

“As if I’m going to believe that.”

The Doctor threw a look at Braxiatel to see if he had any ideas as to how to handle this.

Braxiatel’s response was swift: he raised his rifle and shot the captain.

“Braxiatel!” the Doctor exclaimed angrily. He jumped up to the body on the ground and turned it over. The man was dead. “You didn’t have to do that!”

“Yes, I did. We’re getting out of here, Doctor. Now get up and let’s go!”

“Haven’t you had enough of killing, Braxiatel? How many people did you kill today? How many lives did you take? And this man was supposedly on your side!”

“No one is on my side.”

“Then why are you fighting this war? Just what are you doing here? Did you get so tired of negotiating peace that now you want to kill everyone you meet? Does life have no more meaning for you? Why not kill me too?”

“He’s fighting a war. He would’ve died anyway.”

Braxiatel’s cool attitude fired up the Doctor’s temper even more. “How dare you? This isn’t the Braxiatel I knew! Who are you? What happened to you?”

“Now isn’t the time.”

“Yes, it is!”

“Get down!” Braxiatel grabbed the Doctor and pulled him down as bullets flew overhead.

“What are you doing?” a soldier shouted. “This is no time for an argument! Back to your posts!”

Braxiatel raised his head. “Look at him, Theta,” he said quietly, his arms still on the Doctor’s shoulders. “Look at how he waves that around. I fired that shot to help us get out of here, to protect your life and he just fired on his own soldiers.”

“Brax, you –”

Braxiatel raised his rifle and shot the soldier. Then he got up and brushed himself off. “Anyone else?” He looked around.

The trenches were empty around them.

“Come on, Doctor, let’s go.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Really? Now you want to throw a tantrum, Theta? You’re not a time tot.”

“I’m not a killer either.”

Braxiatel sighed. “Doctor, remember we’re looking for Romana. We don’t know what happened to her. Every moment we delay might cost her her life.”

“What happened to you, Brax?” the Doctor asked again, the anger no longer present in his voice.

Braxiatel shook his head. “Many things. I had to learn how to survive.”

The Doctor stared in horror at the corpse on the ground. “I’m not sure that’s called survival.”

“Now’s not the time for catching up, Doctor, or a debate about morals.” He looked down at the Doctor and then extended his hand. “I can’t even tell you most of it. I’ve already revealed too much. You have to trust me. Please.”

The Doctor looked at Braxiatel’s hand. “You’re from Gallifrey’s future, aren’t you?”

“Many, many years in the future. By rights, I shouldn’t be here.”

“You called Romana a President.”

“Yes, well…” Braxiatel made to retract his hand, but the Doctor grabbed it and pulled himself to his feet. Braxiatel nearly lost his balance.

“I don’t need to know any more,” the Doctor said. “I’ve heard enough. Looking at you, I dare not guess what happens to Gallifrey.”

Braxiatel controlled his face and kept it from revealing anything.

“Let’s go and find Romana.”

The rest of the day was spent moving through the trenches.

 

***

 

Braxiatel and the Doctor ended up with the rest of the army, retreating to Metz. Everyone was exhausted. The French were losing and no one could understand why. Braxiatel explained some of it to the Doctor in a voice just loud enough to be heard only by his brother:

“The Prussians are outmanoeuvering the French and the French command keeps making mistakes. They don’t react correctly to the situations they’re thrown into. They could’ve won already, but instead they’re losing.” He looked around casually, making sure they were out of earshot of others. “Everyone expects this to be a long war, but it will end early next year.”

The Doctor nodded absent-mindedly. This was turning into an educational trip. He kept thinking of Romana, wondering where she was. She would’ve benefitted from this history lesson.

When the Prussian army besieged the French the two Time Lords were starting to seriously feel the effects of the war. Disease was rife among the soldiers on both sides. Provisions ceased and the French army was starved.

Braxiatel sat next to the Doctor, his hand on his stomach. “What I wouldn’t give for a clean pair of socks right now!”

The Doctor grinned. “Or a bag of jelly babies. They don’t have them in this time period, you know.”

“Yes, even your terrible jelly babies, or those mostly green apples we found.”

A soldier next to them started to mutter something about his mother.

The Doctor turned away and didn’t look at Braxiatel at the same time as his brother pretended to be interested in his shoes.

They’d run out of their usual distractions. The Doctor had lost his yo-yo during one of the attacks. All he had in his pockets were bits of string. He fidgeted with his scarf, a dark expression on his face. Even the soldiers who’d made jokes about his scarf no longer found it amusing.

“You know I met Napoleon once…” the Doctor began.

“…and you impersonated him,” Braxiatel continued for him.

“I wasn’t going to usurp him…”

“…just use it as a way to get out of a difficult situation,” Braxiatel completed the story and sighed. “Why is this so familiar? I’m sure Benny would know…”

“Benny? Benny…” the Doctor tried to think of someone famous with that name, but the physical strain he’d suffered was equal to the mental strain. It was making it hard to remember things. “Bernadette… Bernie… Bernhardt…”

“Don’t bother,” Braxiatel said quietly.

“I don’t think I ever met Sarah Bernhardt.”

“What about Bernie-Bernard Bernadette? The painter from the 35th century?”

“Or his brother the composer?” the Doctor smiled as bits of a memory came to him. That had been a good day. At least, until the Zygons attacked…

It was quiet for several minutes and then Braxiatel noticed that his brother had nodded off. The Doctor’s head dropped down to one side and Braxiatel moved over so that the Doctor could use his shoulder as a pillow.

He should have persuaded the Doctor to leave the moment he and Romana had walked into his tent. He should have concocted a story of some kind. The Doctor was having a hard time not fighting. Everyone seemed so intent on giving him weapons and ordering he use them. It was almost a miracle that he’d gone on this long without a court martial, or whatever it was that humans did to soldiers that refused to kill the enemy.

But, of course, that wasn’t Braxiatel’s main concern. He was more worried about Romana. He closed his eyes and saw the Lady President on her first day in office in those long-forgotten days when Braxiatel was her advisor, trusted, respected and, well…

When he had a home…

Few things really moved Irving Braxiatel, but the thought of home was certainly one of them.

“How do you do it?” he whispered. “How do you flit about with no fixed abode, Doctor?”

The Doctor continued to sleep.

 

***

 

The siege ended in another loss for the French and another victory for the Prussians. Hungrier than ever the army retreated to Sedan where they were captured and Napoleon III himself was taken prisoner.

Now Braxiatel and the Doctor were prisoners too, unable to escape the French army’s fate.

“At least we have food now,” the Doctor pointed out, grinning.

“If you can call that food,” Braxiatel sighed. “When I get off this dreadful planet the first thing I will do is visit the Harmony and Redemption.”

“I haven’t heard of that one. Where is it?”

Braxiatel smiled. “It’s a restaurant on a spaceship. They don’t let everyone make a reservation.”

The Doctor considered this. “Sounds like one of those places that only serve food to owners of galaxies, or at least 5 planets… maybe 10 moons.”

“That’s part of the requirements, certainly,” Braxiatel agreed. He wasn’t going to add that not only was it mandatory to _own_ planets, but also to have destroyed a few. And he was _certainly_ not going to mention the fact that there was a special table reserved just for him for all perpetuity. And the next thing that he wouldn’t add would be how he thrice met two of his other selves at said table.

“When do you want to escape?” the Doctor asked casually.

Braxiatel shook his head sadly. “No point in wasting our energy, Doctor. They will let everyone go soon.”

“Really? Will we have to promise not to fight them anymore and behave ourselves?”

“I’d like to see them try to make us give a promise like that.”

The Doctor reclined in the grass and whistled quietly.

“It is my imagination, or has your mood improved since we’ve been captured?”

“Well – really,” the Doctor protested, unable to keep a straight face, “you know how it is…”

“Indeed, I do.”

 

***

 

There were no interrogations, no tortures. There was only the capitulation, followed by the army’s release. The soldiers left in low spirits despite all of this. They had lost. All that remained was for the Prussians to take Paris and the war was over.

A week later Braxiatel and the Doctor had rooms in the finest hotel in Paris. And several days after that the Prussian army encircled Paris.

The capital of France was under siege.

 

***

 

“I still can’t find Romana,” the Doctor told Braxiatel one evening, walking into their rooms and collapsing into a chair. “It’s possible she isn’t in Paris after all.”

“She’ll find us,” Braxiatel said confidently. He shuffled through the papers on his desk. “I have people out there looking for her.”

The Doctor shifted impatiently in his seat.

“I know how much you hate staying in one place for a long time, Doctor. Why don’t you go back to your TARDIS and bring it here? I can give you the exact coordinates of this room.”

“I know the exact coordinates of this room!” the Doctor protested. “And I’d rather go back with Romana.”

“I’ll wait here in case she’s in Paris.”

The Doctor grumbled something under his breath.

“It will be a hard and dangerous journey,” Braxiatel said. “It’s a good thing you’re not in uniform anymore, but a change of clothes won’t be enough.”

On their second day in Paris the Doctor had managed to find something very similar to his usual clothes, but in purple and burgundy tones.

The Doctor rose to his feet. “What about you?”

“I’ll get by somehow.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, Doctor.”

The Doctor shrugged. “I’ll come back tomorrow.”

The next day was completely Doctor-less.

So was the week that followed.

 

***

 

“Good morning!”

Braxiatel lowered his newspaper and looked up to see Romana standing in front of him. He rose to his feet. “Good morning!”

“Where is the Doctor?”

“He went to get his TARDIS.”

“Which means he could be anywhere right now.”

“Possibly. Would you like some breakfast, Lady Romana?”

“Yes, please.”

Braxiatel called the waiter over and let Romana order breakfast. He waited for her to eat a bit before asking. “Where have you been all of this time? The Doctor and I were very worried.”

“Trying to find you,” she replied. “I assumed you would both come here and thought it would be easier to search through Paris than all of France.”

“You disappeared the morning of the battle.” Braxiatel poured Romana more tea and she thanked him with a nod of her head.

Romana ate quietly for several minutes and then said, “I was taking a walk when a group of soldiers ambushed me. Then they decided to let me go on the grounds that women can’t make proper prisoners.” She shook her head in disapproval. “By the time I got back your camp had been attacked. Most of the soldiers were dead, so I made my way to Paris. I only arrived this morning.”

Braxiatel noticed that she was still in her uniform. “I’ll get you a change of clothes. We have a big selection to choose from.”

“Why? These are quite comfortable. They do need a wash and I’d like a bath myself.”

“In that case, I’ll get the maid to fetch you some water.” Braxiatel waited for a moment and then asked, “How did you know to look here?”

“I didn’t. I simply asked for the address of the fanciest hotel.”

 

***

 

The two weeks that followed were spent in luxury, considering that the city was under siege and that food was running out at a catastrophic rate. The food shortage wasn’t the only cause of the fights in the street and it seemed as if everyone suddenly developed a political opinion. It was hard to say which of the two was the greater cause of rising tension.

 “No! No! I tell you I have nothing! Nothing!” the chef stormed out into the dining hall and threw his hat on the ground. “What do you want me to do? What? I am a cook, not a miracle-maker! I can’t make something out of nothing!”

The guests of the hotel all stared at him in surprise.

Braxiatel folded his newspaper calmly and said, “Since hunting is out of the question, maybe we should consider the animals in the zoo?”

A silence followed those words and then someone asked, “Can we do that?”

“I don’t see why not,” someone else put in.

In the argument that followed Romana watched Braxiatel, trying to guess what he was thinking.

He noticed the attention she was giving him and smiled, “I can’t let you starve, my dear Romana.”

Romana smiled back.

 

***

 

“Now that the zoo is empty,” Romana said to Braxiatel one morning, “do you think they’ll start eating people soon?”

“Probably,” Braxiatel said. He stood by the window, looking out. The weather was bleak, they sky grey and cold. Occasionally snowflakes would fall from the sky. The streets were quiet, as if everyone was suddenly too frightened to come out.

“We could build a beacon,” Romana said, “and make something for the TARDIS to home in on.”

“That would be tricky. They’ve barely discovered electricity in this time period.”

“But not impossible. I think we can find what we need, if we look hard enough.”

“Then why not? It will give us something to do.” Braxiatel turned around to face Romana.

She smiled and he returned the gesture. It was cold. They were starving. The Doctor was who-knew-where. They were marooned on a primitive planet, but Romana was smiling and – for a moment – that was enough for Braxiatel.

He dropped down to his knees by her seat. “Can I just say it’s been an honour to suffer by your side, my lady? One sight of your smile is enough to sustain me. It’s better than the biggest meal you can imagine, than –”

“Braxiatel, thank you. I think we should go now while it’s still light outside.”

“Yes, of course.”

 

***

 

It took them weeks to find all of the necessary components. One morning their work was interrupted by a happy announcement.

“The siege is over!” the manager of the hotel told the guests he had assembled.

“Finally!” several people exclaimed.

“Does that mean France lost?” Romana asked and got several angry looks.

“The treaty is yet to be signed,” the hotel’s manager said indignantly, “but we will have food now.”

Romana smiled. “That’s good news, surely?”

With food in the city the unrest only increased and dissatisfied talk about the government could be heard everywhere. Romana paid no attention to them, focusing instead on her task. Braxiatel followed the developments closely. Several times a day someone would come to bring him the latest news.

“Why do you care?” Romana asked. “Surely, it’s more important to leave as quickly as possible and not waste time following the latest developments?”

“My dear Romana, any day now the situation might become very dangerous for us. The others might view us as aristocracy. They might decide the hotel is a symbol of imperialism, for example, and burn it down with everyone inside it.”

Romana looked at him in alarm. “Surely not!”

“I wish that I was just exaggerating, but who knows where events may lead?”

Romana sighed and stood up. “I always thought politics was so tedious – you have to constantly stay on top of events.”

Braxiatel smiled. “And you never considered going into politics yourself?”

“Of course not! I don’t care about Earth politics!”

“What about… Gallifrey?”

Romana gave him a surprised look. “What can a Time Lord from the house of Heartshaven possibly hope to achieve?”

“What would the Doctor say if he heard you now I wonder?”

 

 

***

 

It was getting dangerously close and he decided not to risk it. Making sure that Romana was busy with the beacon (he’d exaggerated its urgency to her the night before and saw her attack the problem with more energy), he took care of the Hotel de Ville and moved on to the Tuileries Palace. The operation demanded care and attention, as well as time.

As he placed the last device in place he heard someone walk up the staircase. He slipped into one of the shadows in the room and waited to see who it was.

“It’s me, Braxiatel. I know what you’re doing, so there’s no point in hiding it now.”

Braxiatel sighed at the sound of the familiar voice and stepped out of his hiding spot.

“Romana? What brings you here? Are you as interested as me in French architecture?”

“I doubt many people are as interested as you are, Braxiatel.”

“What can I say? I am forever fascinated by art.”

“And that’s what brought you here, isn’t it?” Romana stepped closer. “1871, Paris, France, Earth. Except you accidentally arrived early. Did your TARDIS malfunction?”

Braxiatel opened his mouth to protest and sighed. “Yes. It was damaged when I fled.”

“Fled from where? No, don’t tell me. You’re from Gallifrey’s future. The Doctor and I worked that out. What do you want with the Tuileries Palace? Will you add it to the Braxiatel Collection?”

“On May 23rd twelve men will come here and burn it down. Look at it, Romana. Isn’t it beautiful? How can someone destroy something so incredible? Just because it’s a symbol of something they hate it will be wiped from the streets of Paris. They will argue afterwards about restoring it, but it will never be the same.” He shook his head sadly. “The aim of the Braxiatel Collection is to preserve art and that’s what I plan to do here. The Web of Time will remain intact. I’m only transporting the interior to my TARDIS. As far as humans are concerned the building and its interior will remain lost forever.”

Romana took another step towards Braxiatel. “Why didn’t you tell us? Didn’t you think the Doctor would approve?” She hesitated. “Or were you afraid that _I_ wouldn’t approve for some reason? What are you keeping from me, Braxiatel?”

“As the owner of the Braxiatel Collection my primary role is to guard the Collection and acquire more artworks for it. As a Time Lord my primary role is the safety of Gallifrey and the integrity of the Web of Time.” He stepped up to Romana. “I’m so sorry, Lady Romana.”

“What does that mean?” She turned around, as if expecting something to spring from the shadows.

“Top marks,” anther voice said and two figures emerged from the shadows on either side of Romana.

“Well, I did say she is very clever,” the other of the two newcomers said.

“Braxiatel? There are two more of you here?” She shot him an angry look. “So much for the Laws of Time!”

“Hello, Romana. It’s a pleasure to see you again,” one of them said.

“You brought your future self?”

The three figures chuckled. “Oh no, not _future_.”

“What a shame that our time together will be so brief. This time.”

“Are you threatening me?” Romana demanded.

“Romana,” the first Braxiatel said, stepping towards her, “the Doctor’s TARDIS has been acting up again. He decided to work on some repairs and you left him to it. You searched the Library for something to read and, finding nothing, decided that it was a good idea to take a break. After all, the Doctor is always landing himself and you in trouble. Who knows when you’ll get another chance to relax?” He spoke slowly and moved closer to her with each sentence.

Romana backed away from him. “I-I know… I know what you’re trying to do… It won’t…”

Braxiatel took one of her hands and rubbed his thumb over her fingers. “You just had a very pleasant dream about a restaurant in Paris that you visited with the Doctor in the 1980s. You had very delicious dessert. You never visited France in 1870 or 1871 and you never met… Irving Braxiatel. When you wake up you might suggest you visit a nice restaurant somewhere.”

Romana’s eyelids dropped and she fell slowly, straight into Braxiatel’s outstretched arms.

“Sleep well, Madame President.”

The other two Braxiatels stood next to him. One said, “Take her back. We’ll finish here.”

“Someone is coming,” the second one grabbed the first one’s arm and pulled them both out of sight.

A groaning, wheezing noise broke the brief silence that followed and a blue police box from 1960s Great Britain appeared next to Braxiatel and Romana.

The door swung open and the Doctor poked his head out. “Hell, Brax! I told you I knew the right coordinates!” He took in his surroundings. “Did you redecorate while I was gone? I can’t say I like it!”

“Doctor,” Braxiatel stood up, still holding Romana. “We –”

Something fell out of Romana’s pocket and hit the floor with a loud clatter. Braxiatel and the Doctor both stared down at it in surprise.

It was the homing beacon and it was activated.

“Ah,” the Doctor said.

“I’m afraid Romana had a little accident,” Braxiatel said. “She won’t remember anything that happened, not even meeting me. It’s a burden I’ll have to live with.”

The Doctor stared at Braxiatel, trying to see past the polite smile, to understand what his brother could possibly be hiding.

“She doesn’t remember me when we meet on Gallifrey,” Braxiatel added.

“Maybe you didn’t make a big enough impression,” the Doctor joked, but his expression was cold. “What are you doing here, Braxiatel? What do you care about Earth, or France, or the 19th century?”

“My TARDIS had a malfunction. Something threw it off course and into this time. Based on my instruments, it collided with something in the Vortex. Something that wasn’t shielded properly.” Braxiatel waited for the Doctor to say something.

“Oh, you know… all kinds of things travel in the Vortex. You need to be careful and experienced like me to avoid them.”

“Do you know how to tell if a TARDIS’s shield is functioning properly? There is a little lightbulb that glows green.”

A guilty look appeared on the Doctor’s face. “… Not purple?”

“No. That means your shield is misaligned.”

“I need to go! Just remembered a pressing appointment!” The Doctor took Romana from Braxiatel and carried her into the TARDIS, shouting, “See you later, Brax!” over his shoulder.

With a thud and wheezing noise the TARDIS vanished.

“Oh, Doctor,” Braxiatel said, “when will you stop being so predictable?”


End file.
